Valerie Buck previously worked as an exercise rider for several of thoroughbred racing’s top trainers. She helped prepare Harlem Rocker, trained by Todd Pletcher, for the 2008 Travers Stakes.
Photo provided by Barbara Livingston

GREENWICH, N.Y. >> A Todd Pletcher-trained horse named Three Lions went off as a 6-5 favorite in his first race at Saratoga, but bolted and never realized his full potential on the track.

Now he’s got a new name, Budder, and a new life’s mission by helping women veterans work through serious issues such as military sexual trauma.

He’s one of several retired thoroughbreds Valerie Buck uses to help veterans in a “Hearts in Harmony” program she started three years ago.

“People who say, ‘I’m scared of horses,’ are my favorite people because at the end of the day they leave not being scared,” Buck said. “For a lot of veterans, trust is a big issue after the situations they’ve been in. If you can get a 1,000-pound animal to trust you and follow you around like a dog, it’s a really eye-opening experience.”

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She’s worked around horses from coast to coast, for most of her life, as an exercise rider for some of racing’s top trainers such as Pletcher, Bill Mott and D. Wayne Lukas.

Classes for veterans are held at an indoor arena in Duanesburg, although Buck recently purchased a farm in Shushan, Washington County, and hopes to open a facility there in 2018.

She founded the non-profit ACTT Naturally organization with a goal of using retired race horses to help people in a variety of ways. Her “Hearts in Harmony” teaching method, which emphasizes non-verbal communication, is also used for women’s workshops and a teen leadership program for kids in local high schools.

“We take them from being crazy race horses to having fun on the farm,” she said.

To date, about 30 women veterans have benefited from “Hearts in Harmony.”

“You can just look into a horse’s eyes; they know what you’re feeling,” said Penny Deer, a retired 20-year army sergeant first class. “They literally almost curl around you, giving you a hug.”

She is the program’s veterans liaison, in charge of recruiting women to take part.

Buck previously worked with Saratoga WarHorse, a similar equine program designed to help veterans. “Hearts in Harmony” is primarily geared toward women.

“A lot of the women that come are victims of sexual trauma,” Buck said. “They’re not going to open up about that kind of stuff in a group of men. We create a situation where women are comfortable enough to open themselves up to be vulnerable, in a safe healthy environment.”

One Air Force veteran took part because she was still traumatized by her experiences as a first responder at the Oklahoma City Bombing, 20 years ago, in 1995.

“There’s a lot of tough stuff going on in the world right now,” Buck said. “We create being in the moment, shutting the world out and leaving your phone outside.”

Classes are one day and last about six hours, although Buck is working on a five-week course to develop stronger bonds between people and equines.

One of the first steps is a silent grooming exercise.

“It’s not really about grooming, it’s about stopping our verbal communication to feel the energy from the horse, feel what they have going on,” Buck said. “It’s about mutual respect, healthy boundaries. We do a lot of stuff with no halter and no lead rope on the horse.”

This gives horses more freedom, allows them to be creative and have fun.